Their Bench
by Alesford
Summary: She thinks it might have started with the bench that would become that bench and ultimately their bench. It was symbolic, really. Or maybe it just signified something important. Either way, it was special.


**A/N: Another Faberry piece of fanfiction that flitted into my mind while I was at work. It was half-finished until I stumbled across it tonight and tripped my way through it to complete it. It's kind of rough, but I think the little amount of fluff makes up for it. I hope you enjoy, and, as always, please review.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Glee".**

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She remembers this bench. It was the bench on which she sat when Rachel found her just after revealing that _Noah Puckerman_ was the father of her unborn daughter. After Finn had gone after Puck. After Finn had shouted and kicked a chair, sending it crashing across the room. After all of _that_, it was _Rachel_ who found her on this bench.

Quinn remembers because that bench signifies the first time of many that Rachel would chase after her.

The next time is just after Valentine's Day when she storms out of the choir room when she sees Santana's hands all over Sam, the boy who gave her a promise ring and then broke up with her right after the Hallmark holiday of the year. She storms out in anger but when she allows herself to collapse onto _that _bench, all she feels is heartbroken.

She's lost so much. Her father's love. Her mother's care. Her sister's respect. Her family. Her home. Her virginity. Her popularity. Her boyfriend. Her daughter. And now Sam. It's just one more block pulled from the already wobbling Jenga tower that is her life.

She feels the heat of another body sit down beside her, and when she opens her eyes, she expects to see Finn's confused but caring face. Instead she meets Rachel's understanding and concerned gaze and it brings a new wave of sobs because it's _Rachel Berry_ whose shoulder she's crying into. It's Rachel Berry's hands stroking her hair and rubbing her back. It's Rachel Berry whispering reassurances in her ear as she cries.

Rachel Berry. The girl she tormented since grade school. The girl to whom she could not have been more indirectly (or directly) unkind. The girl who, by all rightful means, should hate her.

She thinks it's no wonder nobody seems to want her and she cries harder.

Rachel holds her until every emotion she's had bottled up since the stick turned pink has left her body by way of tear. It's dark outside when Quinn finally peels herself from Rachel's side and she feels oddly lighter. Better. She wipes fruitlessly at her tear-stained face, though she's not sure for whom she's trying to make herself presentable.

Rachel just smiles softly and helps her to her feet. They don't talk as Rachel helps her to her car. There hasn't been a word uttered between them all afternoon, Quinn realizes. She wonders if there's some hidden irony in that fact.

Quinn slides into the little red compact, hand still linked with Rachel's as she looks up to meet sympathetic doe eyes. Rachel gives her hand a reassuring squeeze before closing the driver's side door and disappearing across the lot.

Quinn sits in the darkness of her car for what seems like a second eternity before sticking her key in the ignition and driving to her house that's not a home.

The third time Rachel goes after Quinn is at the start of their senior year at McKinley High School. She runs away this time because she's afraid and even though she hasn't worn that red, black, and white Cheerios armor since the middle of junior year, she feels entirely exposed and vulnerable in her floral sundress and white cardigan.

It's just after glee practice has started that she flees after she realizes why everybody's eyes are looking at her and then Rachel to their hands intertwined in her lap. She has forgotten that she hasn't really spoken to anybody besides Santana and Brittany about Rachel, and coming out to them had been a breeze (Santana had looked from one to the other, raised an eyebrow, and gave a great big, 'Duh!' as if the two of them were the most obvious idiots in the world). But this was _high school_ in _Ohio_ of all places. This was Sam and Puck and Finn. It was Artie, Tina, Mike, Mercedes, and Lauren. And she was Quinn Fabray and she was _afraid_ of what they might think when they find out that she and Rachel Berry became more than friends over the summer.

Rachel finds her on _the_ bench in the hallway, and she doesn't say a word when silent tears stream down Quinn's face. She wraps her arms around the blonde who doesn't flinch away, and when Quinn says she doesn't know if she's ready, she just nods and lends her quiet strength. She says, 'I'm here and I love you and I understand', without any words. She holds Quinn until the tears stop and she feels strong again and they're ready to face the world, together.

Quinn thinks she can be okay with this, with Rachel at her side because the smaller girl is so full of optimism and hope and determination and dreams and love. She thinks this can work because for all of their faults combined, they seem to fit almost perfectly together.

The fourth time Rachel follows Quinn to _their_ bench is the day of graduation. They're both dressed in their vibrant red and awkward gowns, carrying the even more awkward caps with tassels, and just as they're lining up to enter the auditorium, Quinn begins to fidget and mumble before taking off. It doesn't take Rachel long to follow, and their friends and classmates seem to just nod in understanding because they've seen this before, even if it's usually Quinn going after Rachel after diva tantrums. They always return together in time.

Quinn's hand finds Rachel's as soon as the smaller girl sits next to her, and it seems that simple touch is enough to anchor her as her heartbeat begins to slow to normal and her breathing is not so labored. She's nervous, she says. For after everything that's happened, she's their valedictorian and she has to get on that stage and give a speech to all of them. She's never been so nervous to be on stage before-especially not that stage on which she's sung and danced time and time again. They're important parting words, she explains, and she needs to get them right.

Rachel knows it isn't for their peers but for the little baby girl with hazel eyes in the audience. She gets it. So she just nods and brings Quinn's knuckles to her lips and presses a kiss to them as Quinn grounds herself. She believes she can do this, and she feels a little bit braver and a little more ready as she stands and tugs Rachel with her, and they return to their places in line together and nobody argues that Fabray and Berry aren't remotely close in the alphabet.

When all is said and done, when speeches are finished and caps are thrown and cameras are flashing and parents are crying (but not hers; she doesn't think they even came), Quinn disappears again to that hallway outside of the choir room. She doesn't sit down but leans on the wall across from that bench and she looks upon it fondly. She knows it's more than just a bench when she recalls what changes it has brought. It's not just _the_ bench but it's _their _bench. This fact is further cemented when she feels Rachel's hand slip into hers and together they smile and reminisce in silence.

"I think I might actually miss this bench," Rachel whispers.

Quinn nods. "We'll find a nice bench in Central Park," she says wistfully. "Together."

Rachel smiles and in turn Quinn smiles and they draw strength and hope and love from each other as they walk away from their bench and towards their future together.


End file.
